This invention relates to a combination storage, display and serving utensil so constructed that the same components perform a plurality of functions.
Heretofore there have been proposals to provide structures in which storage and display of a product is simultaneously accomplished or structures in which the same components separately perform a storage function and a display function.
One such latter proposal is in U.S. Pat. No. 3,511,288 in which a base member, a plate and a cover member are so constructed that the cover, which is normally disposed over the plate, may be inverted to support the plate thereon so as to display the product on the plate. In that Patent, the base member has a recessed central portion adapted to receive the plate and the cover member has an upwardly raised central portion to provide clearance for the contents of the plate. The base member has a bottom edge portion adapted to interfit with the cover so that the base member can be placed on the cover which then serves as a pedestal to display the product on the plate.
British Pat. No. 11,487 provides a butter cooler in which a base member has a trench for receiving water or ice surrounding a central raised portion. The raised portion carries butter or the like and a cover is disposed thereover.
Cake hives are well known in the art and one early disclosure is found in U.S. Pat. No. 877,796 which shows a cake plate with a cover thereover. The cover has a knob at its top to facilitate handling of the cover.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,819,455 discloses a shield in the form of a cover to be placed over a cake. The shield is provided with apertures to hold candles.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,197,940 includes a central cake tray having a releasable fastening cover. A plate which carries cake or the like is provided with structure with interengages with the supporting cake tray to prevent relative movement therebetween. The cover is disposed over the tray and, allegedly, the cake carried by the plate will not shift position even when the tray is slightly inclined.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,057,671 shows a pie rack provided with trays for storing a stack of pies.
The foregoing patents do not either disclose nor remotely suggest a bowl-like member and base so constructed that an entirely different configuration, having a completely different use, is accomplished by merely inverting both the base and the bowl-like member. Great economy is accomplished by such an arrangement in view of the fact that two components may serve multiple functions without additional expenditure. No structure as provided by the present invention has been heretofore suggested.